Dolce & Gabbana Sweet Temptations: Cocoa Eyeshadow Quad

Just in time for fall, Dolce & Gabbana’s Cocoa Eyeshadow Quad ($59.00 for 0.16 oz.) offers a seemingly perfect mix of hues for the cooler temps and falling leaves. The first shade is soft peachy beige with a matte finish. It has a slightly powdery texture that may not work so well with drier skin types and lends itself to a sheerer application overall. The shade reminded me of Inglot #328 (which is a touch darker) and, to a lesser degree, Inglot #330 (which is lighter). To the right of that is a medium-dark orange with a matte finish. It has a similar feel and texture as the peach shade, which is a little powdery and sheer in places. MAC Rule is similar but has better color payoff.

On the bottom left, there is a warm, red-toned medium-dark brown with a soft golden bronze shimmer and satiny sheen. It has good color payoff and has a soft, silky smooth texture. I felt it was the best out of the four shades in the palette. MAC Lie Low is similar but a step darker. MAC Faux Gold is similar but more intense. MAC Texture is less red-toned. Beside the medium-dark brown, there is a burgundy-brown with a satiny sheen but less-than-stellar color payoff. The texture is on the drier side, which makes it harder to blend and achieve the intensity as seen in the pan. It’s too bad, because I think the mix of burgundy and brown makes it the more complex shade of the four. MAC Twinks is browner and darker. Chanel Ebloui is darker. Bare Escentuals’ Kismet is very similar but matte in finish.

A lot of the issues are really emphasized during application than when they’re swatched. I have more trouble working with Dolce & Gabbana’s matte and semi-matte eyeshadows than I do with their shimmery shades (especially when the texture is dense and feels buttery to the touch). They have a tendency to apply in a chalky, uneven way and require a fair amount of color-packing to achieve decent color payoff. Fluffier brushes (think MAC’s 222) work better with the dry texture of the bottom right shade, while a flatter and firmer (think MAC 249) brush will work better with the powdery shades. I’d recommend tapping the brush lightly against your forearm before applying to the lid or else be prepared to do some clean-up.

This is a palette more suited towards warmer complexions (with peach, red, or yellow undertones), because of the abundance of peach, orange, and red here. None of these shades are cool-toned, and two shades have fairly strong red undertones, so it may turn muddy or lean too strongly in the red/orange direction to be as flattering on cooler complexions. I am an advocate of wearing whatever you like, though, because it’s in the way one wears it and ultimately outweighed by the confidence to wear it. If you’re cooler-toned, you might try pairing it with ashy browns, grays, or blue-based pinks.